Adjustable support



u 1939- T. A. M GREGOR ET AL 2,161,357

ADJUSTABLE SUPPORT Filed June 18, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY June 6,1939. MCGREGOR ETIAL 2,161,367

ADJUSTABLE SUPPORT Filed June 18, 1937 s Sheets- Sheet 2 FIG.3.

'Llhoh H HI L n I10 INVENTORS A THOMAS A.McGREGOR BY ALBERTJRHODES' I kwL irromvfis June 6, 1939. T. A. MCGREGOR ET AL ADJUSTABLE SUPPORT FiledJune 18, 1937 3 SheetsSheet 3 FIGJO.

INVENTORS THOMAS A. MCGREGOR ALBERT J. RHODE S 5; Q 4

ATTORN YS I Patented June 6, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ADJUSTABLESUPPORT poration of Michigan Application June 18, 1937, SerialNo.148,902

6 Claims.

This invention relates to adjustable supports, especially for seats ofthe adjustable variety used in motorcars and other vehicles, and aims toprovide a simple inexpensive mechanism formed al-' most entirely ofsheet metal, for quick and easy adjustment of both the longitudinalposition and the inclination of the seat. Another object comprises theprovision of such adjusting means controllable by a single operatinglever selectively the seat longitudinally.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription, wherein reference I is made to the accompanyingdrawingsillustrating av preferred; embodiment of my invention andwherein similar reference numerals designate similar parts throughoutthe several views.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevationalv view of my improved adjustablesupporting mecha-nism, show-- ing the locking means therefor.

Figure, 2 is a similar view showing the seat in a different position,both as to inclination and Iongitudinal positioning.

7 Figure 3 is a plan view of the mechanism, with the cross connectingrods centrally broken away.

Figure 4 is a front elevational view thereof.

Figures 5, 6, 7 and 8 are cross sectional views taken substantially onthe lines 5-5, &--6-, 1-1 and 8-8 respectively of Figure 2.

Figure 9 isa perspectiveview of the apparatus, with the cross connectingrods centrally broken away.

, Figure 10 isa detail sectional view of a portion .of the rear latchmeans,

Referring now to the: drawings, it will: be seen that floor and seatportions l0, H, respectively, are indicated somewhat diagrammatically;the

, numeral I I representing the supporting bottom portion of a seat suchas is used in an automobile.

A pair of channeled base members H are secured to the floor ill inparallel relationand' near than both, although this is of course amatter of choice and locking means could be included in each if desired.A description of that one of the pair of which is equipped with thelocking means will suffice.

At its forward end each base member is curved upwardly to providepivotal support for a channeled track member l5, articulated thereto bypin l6, which also extends through the track portion. The pin carrieswithin the channeled track an anti-friction roller IT for the bottomflange 20 of the carriage. The carriage, as best shown in Figures 5- and6, is formed of a downwardly extending sheet metal Web 2| secured to theunderside of the seat frame and having an inclined bottom edge to whichthe T-fiange 20, formed of folded sheet metal, is riveted or otherwisesecured. Such inverted T-flange is slidably retained in the trackportion I5 by overhanging shoulder portions l8 formed upon the latterand projecting inwardly over the top of the flange. The carriageassembly is secured to the seat II by screws 22, and is inclineddownwardly toward the rear of the seat, as best shown in Figures 1 and2. Both the track and carriage flange portions, l8-20 are toothed alongtheir longitudinal edges.

It will be seen that the track and carriage portions I5-20' arerelatively short, andconstitute the supporting means for the front ofthe seat only, separate means being provided for support ing the rear ofthe seat. The rear supporting means comprises a swinging link assemblyarticulated to the base l4 near the rear thereof, as upon a pin 30, andat its top articulated to the rearwardly extended carriage portion 2|,as upon another pin 33. The link mechanism rocks from front to back in avertical plane changing the inclination of the seat during its travel.Such link assembly also incorporates means whereby its effective lengthmay be changed, to enable variation of the inclination of the seatwithout sliding it forwardly or rearwardly. Such separate tilt adjustingmeans, which will subsequently be described in detail, is normallylocked, so that the link assembly acts as a rigid link during normalsliding travel of the carriage assembly.

Forward or rearward movement of the seat is ordinarily prevented by alatching dog inthe form of a bell crank 40, pivoted upon a flange 23'formed integrally with the carriage flange 21' and extending downwardlybeside the interfitted track and carriage portions |5'20 to pivotallysupport the bellcrank which is mounted upon a pivot pin 4|. Theextremity of the forwardly extending arm of the latching dog is bentinwardly through an arcuate slot 43 concentric with the fulcrum of thebellcrank, such inbent portion, designated 42in Fig. 5 being normallyurged into locking engagement with the aforementioned teeth carried byadjacent edge flanges of the track and carriage,'by a tension spring 44connected to the other arm of the bellcrank and to the flange 23. Suchother arm of the latching bellcrank is also provided with an outturnedlug 46 engageable by a rollback cam 45. The cam is also pivoted upon theflange 23 and actuable by means of an operating handle, 50, to enableswinging the dogging portion 42 upwardly and free of the notched edge ofthe track portion 20, thereby releasing the latter for sliding movement.

The entire supporting assembly as thus far described, with the exceptionof the latch and latch operating means, is duplicated at either end ofthe seat, as previously stated. In order to insure uniform parallelmovement of the carriage portions of such duplicate assemblies, and soof both ends of the seat, a geared connection is provided between thetwo assemblies of the pair. Such connection comprises a cross rod 55extending between and journaled in the opposed track channels l5, andcarrying within each track a pinion 60 meshing with the notched edge oftrack portion 20 A clearance slot 6| is also provided for the pinion inthe bottom of track I5. The inner notched edge of each carriage portion20 thus provides a rack, the racks of the two carriages being connectedby the cross rod 55 and the pinions thereby, so that upon actuation ofeither end of the seat, the opposite end is correspondingly anduniformly driven. It will likewise be appreciated that such rack andpinion connection renders unnecessary the provision of separate latchingmeans for each supporting assembly.

Since the front of the seat must, at least at times, slide up-hill inmoving forwardly, and

vice versa, a counterbalance spring 65 is preferably provided tending topull the carriage forwardly, such spring being shown as acting intension and connected at one end to the base member l4 and at its otherend to the link assembly which forms the rear movable support for theseat. Such link assembly comprises a sector plate 3| pivoted upon pin30. As best shown in Figure '7 the sector plate is formed of a doublethickness of sheet metal, the two thicknesses being spaced from eachother near its center to form webs which extend on either side of thebase channel l4, while in an area farther from the pivot pin 30, the twothicknesses are bent toward and secured to one another, as by welding.The sector plate itself is not articulated to the carriage, suchconnection being provided by a pair of plates 34-35 forming an extensionlink assembly, such link plates being pivoted to the sector plate upon across pin 36 projecting through the latter at a point spaced from itsfulcrum pin 30 but in the section in which its two webs are spaced fromeachother. The link plates 34-35, disposed outside the sector plate,extend upwardly and terminate between the side flanges of the carriagemember, to which they are articulated by a pin 33. Pin 36 is so offsetfrom the main fulcrum pin 30 that angular movement between the extensionlink assembly formed by plates 34-35, and the sector plate,

changes the distance between pins 30-33, thus varying the effectivelength of the link assembly and so the inclination of the seat.

Both thicknesses of sheet metal of which the sector plate is formed aretoothed at their peripheries, one such toothed portion, designated 37,being offset laterally to lie against the inside of the outer link plate35, while the other toothed portion. 38 is disposed substantiallycentrally. The toothed portion 31 may be formed by a series of aperturespunched in such offset section, while teeth 38 are out directly in theperiphery of the central web of the sector plate. Angular movementbetween the sector plate and the link plate assembly is normallyprevented by a dog portion 10 carried by a swinging plate 12 pivoted ona transverse axis upon the link plate 35 in such manner that it may beswung outwardly to free the dog portion 10 from engagement with thetoothed portion 31, into engagement with which it is normally urged by aspring 13 mounted upon a projecting outer extremity of pivot pin 33, thepin being also projected through the upper extremity of the dog member12, against which extremity the spring bears. The pin T -l upon whichthe dog is pivoted, projects trans versely through a pair of earscarried by the bottom thereof, and through corresponding ears carried bylink plate 35. Link plates 3435 will be seen to act as a unit, a portionthereof outlying thetoothed extremity 38 of the sector plate beingpressed inwardly to lie close to and provide a bearing. for the pinion75 arranged therebetvveen and meshing with toothed portion 33. Theportions-of plates 3435 so pressed together overlap the sector plate andpinion to insure their alignment. Pinion T5 is secured to a cross shaft76. Two such pinions are carried by the shaft, one pinion beingincorporated in each supporting assembly at either end of the seat. Thelink adjusting portions of the two assemblies are thus interconnected toinsure uniform movement thereof. i

As a result of the provision of the cross shaft 16, looking dog portionsas 10-12 need be provided only upon one of the supporting assemblies.Preferably I arrange it upon the same support which carries the dog 40,in order that both may be ac'tuable by the same operating handle 53,although this will be seen to be a matter of choice. In the constructionshown, the operating handle 50, when moved in the opposite direction tothat required to retract the dog 43 to allow sliding of the seat, pullsupon a connecting link 73 to actuate a'bellcrank 80 provided with an armwhich extends between the dog 72 and the carriage member, and isswingable outwardly when the handle is so actuated, to move the dogoutwardly, freeing tooth l0 frorn engagement with the toothed portion 31of the sector plate. The bellcrank 80' is pivoted upon a lug portion 3iprojecting integrally from the bottom of carriage flange 23, the arm ofthe bell crank to whichlink 18 is articulated projecting outwardly. Theother end of the link is connected to an arcuate slot 82 in the rollbackmember 45, providing lost motion connection between the handle and dog12, This as will be readily apparent, permits separate independentactuation of the bellcranks 4080 by the hand lever 50, and preventstheir simultaneous release.

When the dog tooth I0 is retracted, angular movement between the sectorplate and the links 34-35 is possible and may be induced merely byrocking the seat. During such rocking, and also during sliding movementof .theseat, in View of the arcuate path through which the rear of theseat must travel, track I5 rocks about its pivotal supporting pin it tovary the inclination of the seat.

While it will be apparent that the illustrated I embodiment of myinvention herein disclosed is well calculated to adequately fulfill theobjects and advantages primarily stated, itis to be under'stoodthat theinvention is susceptible to variation, modification and change withinthe spirit and scope of the subjoined claims.

What we claim is:

1. Adjustable supporting means comprising in combination with a base andan object adapted to be adjustably supported thereby, a pair ofsupporting and guiding means carried by the base and secured at spacedpoints to the supported object, one of said means comprising rockablysupported and relatively slidable track and car- 'riage portionsconnected to the base and to said object to allow guided longitudinaltravel of the latter, and the other of said means comprising a linkportion articulated tosaid base and to said supported object and bodilyswingable with such longitudinal travel, said link portion also actingto vary the inclination of said object during such travel.

2. Adjustable supporting means comprising in combination with a base andan object adapted to be adjustably supported thereby, a pair ofsupporting and guiding means carried by the base and secured at spacedpoints to the supported object, one of said means comprising rockablysupported and relatively slidable track and carriage. portions connectedto the base and to said object to allow guided longitudinal travel ofthe latter, and the other of said means comprising a link assemblyarticulated to said base and to said supported object and bodilyswingable with such longitudinal travel and also acting during suchtravel to vary the inclination of said object, and means for changingthe effective vertical height of one of said supporting and guidingmeans to change the inclination of said object independently of itslongitudinal position.

3. Means as set forth in claim 2 in which said link assembly is formedin a plurality of adjustable sections adapted to be fixed. in variousrelative positions of adjustment to change such effective height byvarying the distance between the points of articulation of the linkassembly to the supported object and to the base.

4. Means as set forth in claim 2 in which said link assembly is formedin a plurality of adjustable sections adapted to be fixed in variousrelative positions of adjustment to change such effective height byvarying the distance between the points of articulation of the linkassembly to the supported object and to the base, two such pairs ofsupporting and guiding means being employed arranged at spaced pointsbeneath the supported object, cross-connecting means meshing with theadjustable sections of the link assemblies of both of such pairs ofsupporting and guiding means and forcing uniform movement thereof and souniform tilting of both ends of the supported object.

5. Adjustable supporting means comprising in combination with a base andan object adapted to be adjustably supported thereby, a pair ofsupporting and guiding means carried by the base and secured at spacedpoints to the supported object, one of said means comprising rockablysupported and relatively slidable track and carriage portions connectedto the base and to said object to allow guided longitudinal travel ofthe latter, and the other of said means comprising a link assemblyarticulated to said base and to said supported object and bodilyswingable with such longitudinal travel and also acting during suchtravel to vary the inclination of said object, said link assemblycomprising a pair of sections pivotally secured together and adjustableas to their relative angularity to change the inclination of saidsupported object independently of its longitudinal position.

6. Means as set forth in claim 5 in which two of such pairs ofsupporting and guiding means are arranged at spaced points beneath thesupported object, said track and carriage portions having gear-connectedportions controlling their relative movement, cross-connecting meansbetween the gear-connected portions to force uniform movement of thecarriage portions of both of said two pairs of supporting and guidingmeans, and additional cross-connecting means forcing uniform angularmovement of the sections of thelink assemblies of each of said pairs ofsupporting and guiding means.

THOMAS A. MCGREGOR. ALBERT J. RHODES.

